The Petersen House Museum

The Niels Petersen House
Historic Site
1414 W. Southern
Tempe, Arizona

The other day I had to go to a WalMart so I went to a new one in Tempe. While looking for it as I cruised down Southern roughly about 10 minutes away from my work I noticed The Niels Petersen House, a historic site in Tempe, Arizona.

I bowed to come one day during my lunch to see the house. So, today I decided to get lunch around that area so I could stop to photograph this landmark. The house a Queen Anne Victorian/Bungalow was designed by architect James Creighton and built on the homestead back in 1892.


Different scenes and views of the house.

Unfortunately I did not see anyone to let me in, the house was supposed to be open and probably was, I wonder if the caretakers were inside having lunch, after all I did go during my lunch time. This only means I have to go back again to see the interior, luckily for me and as I said before it's only about 10 minutes away from where work.

I read somewhere that the two story interior is comprised of thirteen rooms. Lots of stained glass and brass hardware on the doors, windows, and moldings. I will definitely make the trip back again but next time I will call ahead of time to make sure someone is there to give me the guided tour.

I am hoping that like The Homestead Museum in City of Industry, California here too they will allow for indoor photography. I am sure that the house interior is pretty breathtaking and a cool blast from the past.

The bungalow style porch was added in 1930.

The tin shed in the rear part of the house had plenty of character.

Plenty of green stuff around the house, including the awesome and well groomed grass.




Until I go back to visit the inside, I hope you enjoyed the tour of the outside of this historic site.

For additional information on this
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Happy Ninth Tallynna.

She is nine and she is the eldest of my grand kids, she is very lovable and very smart and a joy to be around her. Although her birthday was two weeks ago, her party was today.

Yes we have too many parties but that is because we have a huge family that sticks together and in my book there's nothing better than that. It's hard for all of us to attend all the different functions we have but for the most part we all attend the majority of these events.

I leave you with a few images of today's party. Happy birthday Tallynna.

I say that's a full smile.

What a cool present, I hope it came with lessons.

Another gorgeous and tasty cake by grandma Linda.

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Dreams

I'm sailing in the vast emptiness of an ocean, the sea breeze, the seagulls, the odor of salt in the water, and the occasional dolphins, occasionally stopping to pet the whales and take a dive in the near freezing ocean water. Above me only the sun, a cloudless sky and... OK, OK, you know and I know that I am lying through my typing fingers, I'm actually dreaming of doing what I just described, but here in the middle of the dessert that would be a little hard to do.

Was it the trees in the background that gave it away that I was not sailing in the ocean? But I do look good in command of the helm don't I?

Instead I sail in my mind, in the middle of a very crowded shopping center mall. Some dizzy pigeons were flying, and the only breeze I felt was the one coming from the inside of a store as the doors opened, and the only dive I took was the one to go through a bunch of mad shoppers on a hot Phoenix day.

Perhaps I could use those $112,000 extra dollars burning a hole in my left pocket to buy this baby.

Yet, to dream does not cost a thing, dreams are just dreams and they are free of charge yet the imagination of actually being in an ocean, heck even in a local lake on a nice boat like this is definitely priceless. The last boat on our little tour actually had sleeping quarters and it had it's own little (literally) restroom.

Today I sailed, and in my mind I did feel the fresh ocean breeze, I did see the seagulls perform many flyovers, the dolphins and the whales did come to visit, and the ocean water was perfect to dive into and take a dip, and the beauty of it all is that after my imaginary voyage, when I crossed the huge paring lot packed with cars, and joined the many shoppers at the store, nothing seemed to bug me.

So, if there's a moral to this story, I think it's obvious to assume that the moral would be DARE TO DREAM!

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Michelle's Birthday

Yesterday was Michelle's birthday, it's hard to believe but she turned 25 years old. Not too long ago it seems she was the little girl that would have to go out with daddy everywhere he went. Actually if it was up to her I think she would still be tagging along.

So as she put it, she is now a quarter of a century old and to celebrate we will have a small family gathering tomorrow but last night the kids and I decided to try our luck at baking a cake for her so we could sing the happy birthday song.

I had tried baking before and didn't do too bad so I read the instructions, had the kids do the hard labor and of course the finger tasting (you know they loved that) and before we knew the whole house smelled like cake, in this particular case chocolate cake.

I am proud to say that it did not go flat, actually it fluffed pretty rather nicely. I decided against frosting, we definitely did not need the sugar rush at 9:00 p.m. The cake not only looked good but it actually tasted pretty good too. Of course to wash it down a cup of fresh coffee did the trick for me, for the kids milk.

We had a nice family moment and now we wait for tomorrow as mi chica will be cooking pozole as per Michelle's request.

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Westgate Outing

Diego, chapalita, "La Princesa", y mi chica.

Westegate really is a nice place to walk around and have a good time. It's also a nice place to take the grand kids and get them tired while doing something that they enjoy. I've been there many times and the photo ops never end.







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Out With The Grandkids

Spending my Saturday with the grand kids was actually pretty good. Friday we went to karaoke at Manny's and my daughter and husband joined us there. Before the night was over I had been recruited as "Ducky's" official babysitter.

Saturday I had to go pick up some equipment my brother in law bought so I took Diego and "Ducky" with me, we had to go to the other side of town so I knew it was a nice drive. On the way back the freeway entrance was closed due to some construction so I decided to take Roosevelt Ave. The nice thing about unexpected detours is finding new things and places to photograph.

There are a lot of old houses down on Roosevelt and then before you know it you are in the heart of Phoenix Historical District. So the kids found it exciting that I was stopping the van every five minutes or so just to take a photo or capture and image.

I wish I knew more about the history of this great city but the truth is that I don't really know much. But if some of these old building could talk I can just imagine the stories they would tell.




Then that same night mi chica and I got recruited to baby sit the big D and the double AAs. We decided that dinner at Wendy's would be good and affordable, it was. Chicken nuggets, and fries with ketchup for the kids and for us Wendy's really, really good Chili.

After dinner we headed for Westgate, boy they say the economy is bad but by the looks of this place you couldn't tell. It was packed with people, to find a parking spot took a little driving up an ddown the aisles. Finally we got the van parked, then took the stroller out the van, strapped the "Chapalita" in it and started walking.

Of course the kids liked everything they saw so since I was not about to buy them everything they wanted so in order for them to remember their night I decided to take a picture of them with everything they liked. Besides they were still sipping their frostys from Wendy's.

Look grandpa, I am the next at bat. Something tells me I'll hit this one out of the park.
I swear they told me who that guy in the back was but I just can't keep up with the names.
Now that I'm learning how to skateboard I wish they would take me to a skateboard store.
Surfing pair.

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Wanda's Art

Three beautiful greeting cards designed by my dear friend Wanda.

Back in November of 2007 my dear friend Wanda sent me five greeting cards displaying her paintings. She she was supposed to send me only one of the Old Truck as a "Thank You" for featuring her photos on my photo blog for a week. So when I received the envelope and found out it had five cards I was pretty happy.

I put them away in a safe place and didn't think of them much until last September when for my birthday Wanda sent me an 8 X 10 print of the "Old Truck". Since I had that print framed I thought it was time to take the small greeting cards and do the same to them.

Again I went to Hobby Lobby my framing place of choice and between their talented framers and I came out with the proper frames for these type of cards. The single flower deserved its own frame, while the wolf and the lion are sharing the other frame. The other two I will keep as cards and will display them as such but these two frames will soon be displayed in one of my walls.

And while this blog is displays all of the melo-duckworth originalz photographic captures, I am proud to share it with some of Wanda's original water paint artwork.







Thank you Wanda.

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I Was Just Thinking

I can't believe that this year is almost gone, only two and a half months more and we'll be in 2010. Now close your eyes and tell me that it doesn't feel as if it was yesterday people were worried about Y2K and the end of the world, people stocking their pantries with food and buying lots of gallons of water because the computers were going to crash and create havoc. Well, we all know how that went, hard to believe that was 10 years ago already. How time flies.

The year 2000 A.D. will be a crucial time in our modern world. As Pentecost divided the Post Diluvian Age from the Present Age of Grace, 2000 A.D. will divide the time when computers worked with relative ease to the time when their accuracy and reliability can not be guaranteed. Most of the first world, America, Japan, and Europe, has become totally dependent on computers to run our systems. After 2000 A.D., the mildest scenario may include random failures in all systems; the worst scenario may be a total collapse of computer systems throwing our economy back into the state of a third world.

We were so afraid about Y2K the time bomb that didn't happen. Fast forward ten years later and here we are, our economy is collapsing, people losing their jobs and subsequently their homes, long time corporations closing their doors, total kaos for those already deep into that situation and yet nobody warned us, nobody saw that coming, nobody knew until it was too late. Greed took the best of a bunch of money hungry executives in the real estate business and now millions are paying the price. It totally sucks, but that is the crude reality.

Don't think for one minute that I am not grateful to have a job. It is slow and nerve wrecking to constantly think that the economy will take a turn for the worst when we already are sailing through very slow times. No body's job is safe, nobody is safe, in times like this we are all open game and I know for a fact if that happens thousands of us are not prepared at all.

I was looking at the calendar and this all hit me so I thought I would put it in writing. From the signs of the time, this year's Thanksgiving Day will take on a whole new meaning for a lot of people. Moving forward I hope people stop complaining and fighting government and start standing behind our leaders and specially our president and do their part in making a change for the better. I know I am.

Perhaps in a not too distant future we can all enjoy a "Tea Party" together as brother and sisters.

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Post Lost

Oh yeah, for the second day in a row I drove in to work with the top down, what a feeling! Today I caught a little more traffic than I did yesterday but overall it still was a pretty decent drive. I am trying to take in as much as I can of this wonderful weather because I know it won't last too long, after all this is Phoenix, Arizona.

(This was yesterday's post, after this opening sentence I had a lenghty post about and when I hit publish Blogger lost it)

I just don't feel like duplicating it because it won't come out the same so I'll leave you with this picture instead.




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Cruising

Oh wow! What wonderful weather we are having these days, no doubt this I can live with year-round. The drive in to work today was awesome, I'm still wearing shorts, and I drove with the top down, how awesome is that? To that add the fact that due to the federal holiday there was not as much traffic which made me get to work almost half an hour early. I so wish it was like this daily.

I was a little reluctant on the way in as my car died on my last Friday as I was leaving work. I only got to the first stop when the car went dead. I had a line of cars behind me and I had to push the car by myself while steering it to put it against the curb. I didn't know how hard that steering wheel was to turn until my muscles started hurting from pulling so hard.

The car wouldn't start so I opened the hood and started it from the engine with a screw driver, then drove it home on the street. Twice it felt like it was going to give up on me but fortunately it got me all the way home. The next day my father in law went to check it but of course it started and drove as if nothing had happened. So, now it will either do it again or maybe it was just a one time mishap. I guess I'll soon find out.


This one really take me back to those cruising days in Cali.

As I was driving in today top down, not traffic, and pure enjoyment, I started reminiscing about my cruising days. I think I may have touched on the subject before but really I am sad that the new generation didn't get to experience the cruising scene. Most cities had a hot cruising spot or two but I happened to grow up in a state that had the best cruising spots in the country.

Van Nuys Boulevard, Hollywood Boulevard, Puente Hills Mall, Pacific Boulevard, and of course the grand daddy of all cruising spots Whittier Blvd. Nothing came close to cruising up and down Whittier Blvd. in my 1971 Chevy Impala, or in my 1980 Kawasaki KZ400 lowrider bike or later on my 1980 Chevy Luv which I turned into a convertible mini truck. Oh those were the days.

I really think that it would be awesome to cruise in my Mustang, although a Mustang is built more for speed that for cruising but still I am sure it would be loads of fun.

Funny how memories just come out when you least expect them. That's the beauty of memories if you put some regularly in your memory bank, they will be there just waiting for you to make a withdrawal and they will always be yours.

Let the music take your mind, ooh
Just release & you will find
You're gonna fly away
Glad you're goin' my way
I love it when we're cruisin' together
The music is played for love,
Cruisin' is made for love
I love it when we're cruisin' together

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Going Green!

Everybody wants to be a Martian now. Seems to me everywhere I turn people claim to be going green. Ummm, makes me think if green is the new pink. Will "turning green with envy"
I was just wondering because I read that statement in about five different Internet pages today. People are using the terms "Going Green" and "Stimulus" like there's no tomorrow, I just wish they all meant it and not just use it as a hook.




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And on to another topic, I did hang the frame of the "Old Truck" that Wanda sent to me and it looks great hanging from the wall. I just thought I show you how it looks.




What do you think?

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Let's Walk Again

We now have weather to envy, sorry East Coasters don't mean to rub it in but after almost four months of extreme heat (which I also love) we are now having temperature in the high 80s and low 90s and we are loving it. It sure is making my top down drives super enjoyable.

Wonderful weather like this calls for me to start my daily 2-mile walk again, the doctor has been buggin' me to exercise as my blood pressure has been borderline high and I just don't seem to be able to lower it so I am hoping the walking will help accomplished the task otherwise she will put me on medication and I really am trying to stay away from meds for as long as I can.

Yesterday I resumed my walk and I really enjoyed it, my Apple shuffle was charged and loaded with songs which make my walk even easier to do, of course I still sing along a the top of my lungs, people must think I am crazy or something, but hey they can think anything they want or better yet, they can join me on a duet.

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Tidbits For Today

A week ago it was hot, this morning everyone is running to get the sweat shirts and jackets out of the closets. Phoenix, we always go from hot to cold in a matter of days, we hardly ever get the in-between. So today I am still wearing shorts but had to find me a sweatshirt to keep my upper body warm. If this weather continues all my shorts will have to be put away until next summer.

For some reason unbeknownst to me I just could not wake up this morning, I actually woke up just fine, but once I got to work I could have just found a little hole to take a nap, instead I had to get me a coffee which I'm trying to cut down and then opted to take a walk around the block, that actually helped a little bit better.

But finally I felt a lot better at lunch time. Courtesy of a trucking company I use I was treated to lunch by my rep at his favorite restaurant Z-Tejas. I've been there many time now and it's always very good. Darn soda glass, if you finish it the fill it up immediately. Also their corn bread is one of the best around. Ummmm que rico!

At work, bottles of hand sanitizing gel were placed all over the company. I think, some of us don't think much of sanitizing our hands as of smelling the gel. It smells so good, you can get a mini high (not that I ever get high)with the smell of alcohol. Ummm somewhat addicting.

Today I stay with my mom at her house, also I start Bible studies. Wow! Finally. I am looking forward to both. I will be great since both mi chica and I are getting one on one lessons given to us by my wonderful sister.

Later readers.

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Diego.
Making a routine errands run into a fun time for my grandson Diego and I. It was Saturday afternoon and I had been putting everything off for a while until I realized that it was in fact getting late, so I took a shower (the only way I can really wake up) and I was ready to hit the road, but not before my little tag along asked me if he could go with me.


So we left the house and went on our way, first stop Hobby Lobby. I was picking up a frame for a future project of mine. Diego was happy to pose in front of Hobby Lobby for the camera.

I am sort of a regular at this store. Not known all over it but in the framing department they all know me by name and actually treat me like a valued repeat customer. So far even though Michael's is nearby about 15 minutes away from me versus five for Hobby Lobby I am trying to remain loyal to this store and it's starting to pay off. I wrote sometime back that I prefer to support my local vendors 100% over taking my business to other areas.

Second stop, Water Works. We needed water so I took all the empty bottles and loaded them in the van... OK I am lying, I told Diego "Diego, here are the keys to the van, take all those empty water bottles and put them in the van". Yeah, that sounds more like the way it happened. So after Hobby Lobby that's were we went.


We got to Water Works and it turned out it was closed. Actually there was a little note on the door saying "Be back in 5 minutes". Well I can't wait that long, luckily I have a few dollar bills which means I can fill my bottles in the outside water dispenser. One bottle here, the other here, a dollar in the slot, press this button, press the other button, great my two bottles are filling up, one side stopped, press the button again, the other side stops press the button again, everything is cool so far. Both sides stop and I put another dollar, press the button and it begins again, press the other button and it begins too, except side one decides not to stop after the one gallon mark and all of a sudden bottle one is full and the water won't stop. I put my hand over trying to close it and it only splattered all over me, then I tried to get it off the dispenser but it's heavy, slippery, and wet, in the meantime water is running down the dispenser and all over the walk way.

In the meantime I put another dollar to continue filling the second bottle and the dollar only fills a little over half the bottle, so Diego tells me, that the store is once again open. I put the full bottle in the van, and my half filled bottles in a cart and I go inside. I show the guy what I have so far and asked him how much more to fill all the other bottles. Well, it took another $2.25.

Never before had getting water been such an Odyssey. Well, I am proud to say I conquered it, but not before spending $5.25 and almost twenty minutes there. Normally five minutes and three dollars and change take care of this task.

Stop number three, WallyWorld. I really shouldn't support this store as it's practices are not exactly what I like but when short of cash you just can't ignore that this store beat the competition hands down.


We went into this store and took care of business very fast. For those of you in the valley when it comes to WalMarts they are always very untidy but the one on Camelback and the 101 for some reason break itself away from the rest and is always for the most part very clean and it always have a huge selection of what I'm looking for. Redemption kindda comes in the way of this one store.

Next stop, Walgreens or as my brother in law calls it Greenwals. Again here we were just picking up something for mi chica and didn't really take too long in there, of course that Diego had to go and push the buttons on a bunch of the Halloween stuff they have in there. Talk about a "Hunted Walgreens" with special sound effects. You want yours to be the same, I'll have Diego email your kids the instructions. It's actually pretty easy and it only requires a little time and willing hands to press lots of buttons.


Fun times running errands and being silly with your grandson. How something so common as going to the store can be easily turned into an awesome adventure.

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A Treasure Framed

Back on May 31, 2007 my dear friend Wanda of "Brush Strokes from the heart" had a post on her blog entitled "A Treasure on 7th Street". In this post she highlighted some old machinery in someones yard. She had passed by these treasures many times but funny enough she didn't really pay much attention to them until she became a blogger and like most of us starting searching for things to blog about.

I've driven down 7th street for over 20 years, and I've seen this old rusted farm equipment and just driven on by. It wasn't until today, when I came by, the sun was hitting the old pickup that I realized I had been passing up a treasure on 7th Street. ~Wanda

For five days I posted a picture taken by Wanda and highlighted it in my "Arizona... But it's a dry heat" photo blog. She was so happy that I did that and in return she sent me five greeting cards featuring her original water colored paintings in them. One of those images was the one that we have dubbed "The Old Truck". This image of the old truck was the first picture of hers I posted.

The Old Truck.
(According to Wanda this is the first vehicle she ever painted.)
Wanda is a very talented lady, her blog is so popular that it receives many hits per day and a healthy doze of comments per post.

On September the 18th I turned 50 years old and Wanda sent me as a present an 8 X 10 print of that old truck. I had received a gift card for Hobby Lobby and some cash as well so I went all out and took the print along with a copy of the original picture to Hobby Lobby and had them professionally mounted on a beautiful frame. The outcome was absolutely beautiful.




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